Does a VH/Roth reunion without Michael piss you off?

[Terrik]

Perhaps I don't remember it correctly, but didn't they just use Plant's touring band when they did this reunion thing? Plant was probably WAY more comfy with just having those guys around than bringing JPJ back into the mix.

Besides, didn't they promote themselves as Plant/Page and not LZ?

it was promoted as a LZ tour.. that's why i remember this...

plant/page.. we remember as plant/page

 

[optikhog]

it was promoted as a LZ tour.. that's why i remember this...

Ungh, then it was a travesty!

 

[Webtroll]

As I was reading these words of outrage it occurred to me that this is the perfect forum for people to be upset about a bassist being ousted. Go figure. That doesn't make it right, tho.

 

[Spector_Ray]

As I was reading these words of outrage it occurred to me that this is the perfect forum for people to be upset about a bassist being ousted. Go figure. That doesn't make it right, tho.

That's really unfair of you to say since most of the posters here regard Mike as more than just a bassist. He, not his bass playing, was in integral part of the Van Halen sound. Go figure.

 

[Rocker949]

I will echo the sentiments of many others and simply say that I now have zero interest in Van Halen. I wouldn't go to a concert if they paid me and wouldn't accept a free CD without Michael on it. Van Halen. Who cares? There are many other better bands now anyway and as so many people have already pointed out, the band is only a shadow of its former self.

 

[OldSchoolBass]

Did anyone notice that MA has been 'shopped out of the cover of the debut album on the VH website? And that Women and Children First has had the cover photo removed entirely?

I couldn't agree with you more - Michael Anthony was the company man indeed.. That said, they must have heard you - the W&CF cover is in tact and he is in his regular space on the first record - lower right corner.

Maybe my eyes are deceiving me?? It's a small pic..

 

[OldSchoolBass]

they could pipe in Mike's backing vocals through the PA. karaoke style.

Would not surprise me. DLR will need all the help he can get.

 

[OldSchoolBass]

As a bass player, yes it makes me mad, it's not the first time a bass player is expendable (Zepplin & Queen reunions)

Queen maybe - but JPJ????

Expendable and JPJ do not go together. In my mind he was as equally as important as Jimmy Page. Bass player bias? Nah, just think of all his writing, keyboard and innovative bass lines. The mastery that was Physical Graffiti is running through my mind as I type.

 

[Gubna]

are they gonna open for ALCHOLica?

 

[Barkless Dog]

Expendable and JPJ do not go together.

Not in my mind either, but it sure seems like it was in Plant's. They sold out reguardless though. It just would have been so much better with him.

 

[Flashback Bass]

Didn't I read where DLR claims this is not a reunion, but a "new" band. Therefore by that logic, MA has not been replaced.

 

[OldSchoolBass]

These pictures tell the story - look at DLR - looks more like a lounge singer or televsion show host then the lead singer of a dynamic 80's rock band.

The band photo is hysterical - Wolfgang looks just a little outy of place - the grandpops next to him, but funny, Eddie is trying to appear younger than his 16 year old kid.


I for one will greatly miss MA's horrible and pointless, JD-swigging bass solos!

(running from side to side, pounding the front of my bass...)

 

[Barfly]

In pitch, maybe, but certainly not in power.

My sig gives me away on this. I'm not impressed. It's not that Mike's a virtuoso, it's that Mike's perfect for the band and integral to its sound. On top of that, the guy has been a company man since, what, 1973? He stood by the band through two singer changes, even as his role in the studio was diminishing. And he HAD to've heard the rumblings about replacing him with Billy Sheehan or Jeff Berlin. His good pal Sammy is edged out acrimoniously, and Mike stands firm. He is forced to sign away the last of his corporate ties to the band as a provision of his participation in the 2004 tour, and even has his royalty rate reduced on the pre-1995 material (per the leaked portions of Sammy's book, I don't know that he gets publishing on anything after F.U.C.K.). And he took all this, like a dog that gets beat for no reason, because he loves what he does and appreciates the fans that make it possible. This fan in particular appreciates it back. Until Mike is reinstated, Van Halen gets no more of my money. Zero. That's concert dollars I'll be spending on Sammy and the Wabos this fall instead. I'll pay to see the people who haven't disappeared up their own orifices.

Did anyone notice that MA has been 'shopped out of the cover of the debut album on the VH website? And that Women and Children First has had the cover photo removed entirely? That's the final straw for me. To proceed without Mike is one thing, and that's fine. To attempt to erase him from a long history is unconscionable. Mikey, if by some fluke you lurk here and are reading this, write a book. Do it. Do it. I wanna see Ed and Al go apoplectic with rage.

+1000000000000000000000

 

[knarleybass]

I am pissed...

 

[Kitsapbass]

can we get a VH reunion without EVH??? He seems to be the biggest egomaniac these days, at least considering what I've seen going on with them.....

 

[Webtroll]

That's really unfair of you to say since most of the posters here regard Mike as more than just a bassist. He, not his bass playing, was in integral part of the Van Halen sound. Go figure.

it wasn't a comment as to the validity of the argument, for what it's worth i think he's gotten the short end of the stick in a very big way. hell the fans are getting screwed over as well as it won't be the original line up. it was, purely and simply, an observation that as much of an injustice as we think it is the forum does cater to bassists and that outsiders may view these opinions as prejudiced. i apologize for any tone that appears in this observation that makes it look like i may disagree with anyone here as it wasn't intended as an expression of my personal feelings on the matter.

 

[X Wolf]

Personally, I would not see them without Michael if I was offered front row center seats for free and they picked me up in a limo to go to the concert.


George

 

[bassmanrocke]

I think I may be the only person alive who thought Sammy was VH's best lead singer. So in all honesty, I think MA is better off where he is anyway. (PS. Back when, I wouldn't go and see VH with DLR anyway)

 

[The Lurker]

i'm not COMPLETELY sure this next story is true, as i was not there and didn't hear it...

but Page is credited with saying...

"we could hire 3 bassists and a keyboard player for the price of JPJ"...

(JPJ played both bass and keyboards)...

if that's true.. that's FUBAR...

if it's not.. JPJ should have been there anyway...

my .02...

That quote perfectly illustrates why Page hasn't managed to produce any non-horrible music since Zeppelin broke up.

One version of the story I heard, which if memory serves was in a video thing with Guitar.com, has JPJ saying that he found out the other two were doing their tour (billing it as a zeppelin thing) in the news paper; they never even told him to his face.

 

[Spector_Ray]

it wasn't a comment as to the validity of the argument, for what it's worth i think he's gotten the short end of the stick in a very big way. hell the fans are getting screwed over as well as it won't be the original line up. it was, purely and simply, an observation that as much of an injustice as we think it is the forum does cater to bassists and that outsiders may view these opinions as prejudiced. i apologize for any tone that appears in this observation that makes it look like i may disagree with anyone here as it wasn't intended as an expression of my personal feelings on the matter.

I see your point and please excuse the way my reply sounded. It was about 5:30 in the morning when I posted that!